Calendar-type software applications in computers and other communication devices are becoming more and more versatile and provide a wide variety of complex operational features. Operations that are available in such applications range from basic functions such as creating a reminder for an appointment or a meeting, editing information regarding the appointment etc., to more complex functions such as inviting a plurality of persons to a meeting at a specified time and place, enabling for invitees to respond to an invitation etc.
One particular feature of such calendar-type applications, which in fact is vital for justifying the application's existence, is that of notification. Calendar events, such as meetings and reminders regarding any other activity to perform, must be notified to the user of the calendar application. Generally, such notification is performed by way of presenting to the user a textual or graphic message on a display or by way of an alarm signal output through a speaker. For example, notifications can be more or less complex, ranging from simple pop-up windows on the display screen of the user device and an associated sound signal output through a speaker of the device, to more complex notifications involving automatic sending of E-mail messages to groups of persons, interactive dialogs with users where the user may postpone or re-direct the notification etc.
Nevertheless, a drawback of such type of notifications is that, although they may be very apparent to the user in audiovisual terms, they require at least some action by the user to acquire the content of the notification. For example, the user has to bring the device into view and look at the display in order to acquire graphical and textual information that is presented.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,072,859 discloses an apparatus and method of generating a voice message of a caller's number during an incoming call to a telephone device. Although the disclosure in U.S. Pat. No. 6,072,859 provides an audible voice message of the telephone number of a caller making an incoming call, instead of a simple ringing tone, it relates basically to an improved telephone.